It will be the state’s job to convince a six-member panel that Hyde committed the acts and then attempted to flee on Aug. 11, 2015. Hyde was discovered by Fort Myers police after driving Dorla Pitts’ white Range Rover recklessly, Gardiner said.

The trial went into its first day of testimony Tuesday. Jurors heard from Dorrien Pitts, Dorla’s husband, as well as the man who found the family and first responders, among them Deputy April Thomas who cradled and comforted a 1-year-old left alive in the home.

The majority of the afternoon session was taken up by the testimony of Elaine Flaherty, crime scene supervisor for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

Flaherty testified for more than two hours about the crime scene, detailing the copious amount of blood and blood splatter found in the home.

“On some of the wall, it was almost as tall as I am,” said Flaherty, who testified she is 5-feet, 9-inches tall.

Kelly and Starlette Pitts were in the living room while Dorla Pitts’ half-naked body was in the kitchen.

The defense is arguing that the Lee County Sheriff’s Office did not take into account evidence that could have pointed to a different suspect, instead, narrowing their search to anything that could point to Hyde.

Defense attorney Jay Brizel said the analysis of the evidence will prove Hyde is innocent.

Brizel, in his opening, called into question the lack of testing for some of the shoeprints found in the home. Only 17 footprints in the house matched Hyde, he said.

“Ultimately, 364 samples have not been matched,” to any of the victims, Hyde nor the deputies who responded to the crime scene, Brizel said.

“What the evidence will also show is that persons others than Mr. Hyde were in the house when these deaths occurred,” Brizel said. “After all of the evidence has been testified to, we believe the analysis is going to show Mr. Hyde is innocent of all that the state has charged.”

Dorla Pitts spoke to her husband, Dorrien, on her drives to and from work.

The nurse worked in Collier County and it took her about 45 minutes to drive back and forth daily. Dorrien Pitts, a long-distance truck driver, had time to spare.

It was during a drive in West Virginia that he last spoke to Dorla. His reception was spotty and the last he heard her say was a frantic “Brian what happened, what happened.”

The call disconnected and Dorrien Pitts became concerned. He began to call back and text, but received no response. He called 911 but was connected to police in West Virginia. He called Lehigh Regional Medical Center to see if anyone had been checked into the hospital with the names of Hyde or Pitts, but found no one. So then he called his friend, Hilbert Lewis.

Lewis lives a few minutes away from the Pitts home and drove over.

When he used a code to get in, he testified that’s when he saw blood and a pair of legs. The rest of the body was shielded by a couch. He was worried the intruder was still inside the house so he called 911 and waited outside.

About two minutes later Deputy Thomas and a second responding officer entered the home. Thomas testified she heard an infant crying.

“Nine times out of 10, we have guns drawn,” Thomas said.

They made a walk-through spotting the bodies. Thomas discovered a 1-year-old girl in one of the bedrooms. The baby was crying, naked and covered in what appeared to be feces and blood.

Thomas picked up the child and held her as she went to check on the victims. She said she checked for a pulse on the victims' bodies, but it was too late.

Starlette Pitts’ wrist was so hacked to pieces, that it was basically separated from her body, Thomas said.

Thomas then had the baby checked for injuries. There was nothing visible.

“I held on to the baby,” Thomas said. “I wrapped her up; I tried to console her.”

Thomas happened to have a dog pee pad in her patrol car and testified she wrapped the baby in that.

Crime scenes technicians spent five days at the home collecting evidence, said Flaherty. Over 400 photos were taken.

But Brizel wanted to know why not all of the evidence was tested.

In particular, he called into question the lack of a test for what appeared to be a bloody fingerprint that was found near a window that was opened.

Flaherty said the fingerprint did not test positive for blood and was never processed because it wasn't collectible as evidence.

Today

The baby now lives with Dorrien Pitts in Tampa.

Pitts declined to comment but did show a reporter photos of the child who is about to turn 4.

Family of Michael Kelly who were present in the courtroom declined to comment to The News-Press.

This is the second time Hyde faces a jury after a mistrial was declared in November by Judge Margaret O. Steinbeck because Dorrien Pitts inadvertently testified that Hyde, of Belize, came to live with the family after crossing into Texas illegally and spending time in a detention facility.

The triple homicide was used by national media as an example of violent crime allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

This time, the state made sure to steer away from any questions that could lead to Hyde’s immigration status. Dorrien Pitts kept his answers to one-worded responses and Gardiner, assistant state attorney, did not ask how Hyde came to live with the family.

Hyde was arrested on suspicion of four second-degree murder charges. While he is accused of killing three people, Starlette Pitts was pregnant with her second child with Kelly at the time of her death.

Some prospective jury member said they could not give Hyde a fair trial because of those accusations.

The trial will enter its third day Wednesday and is expected to conclude Thursday or Friday.